Atrophy

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14

The muscles in your body are not meant to be underutilized. The less a man uses his muscles, the more loss of strength and vigor are experienced. This phenomenon is known as muscular “atrophy.” It is a slow fade of effectiveness that is experienced as a result of little or no usage. This principle transfers to other areas in life as well. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “use it or lose it,” that is atrophy. The author of Hebrews is challenging his audience, letting them know they have experienced atrophy. How does this decline occur?

When a man fails to continually use any of his spiritual “muscles,” the same result is experienced. Verse 14 defines the expectation placed on the reader. Mature believers are constant in training and able to spiritually think for themselves. How did they end up in this predicament? They didn’t even try to understand spiritual matters.

Be challenged by the height of the bar placed in Hebrews 5. Ask yourself, “Am I regularly thinking about spiritual things?” “Do I apply constant effort in my spiritual life?” Failure is not about making mistakes. Failure is not trying.